Stage set for World Cup chess

Defending champion Vishwananthan Anand said he is up against a tough field in the World Cup chess championship, which gets under way in Hyderabad on Wednesday.

Anand told reporters that he has not chalked out any strategy for the event as the pairings are yet to be determined.

On his main challengers, Anand said: "It's a tough field. The players have also to go through the league phase and qualify for the knock-out round.

"I would play the tournament on a match-to-match basis as it suits the format."

Asked to name a possible challenger, Anand said, "It's an open tournament and the field is strong with 23 other top players."

Affirming that he would strive to improve his ELO rating, Anand said the format does not give top billing to any individual as each one has to go through the league round to reach the top.

In a word of praise for the strong Indian contingent, moreso the state players, he said they are doing well and the event would be a good opportunity for them to prove themselves.

About the delay in confirming his participation, he said, "It was due to the delay in clearing my name by the official body." He did not elaborate.

Billed as the biggest chess event of the year, the second World Cup will see the world's leading Grandmasters vying for the coveted title and prize-money of $280,000.

In the absence of players like Gary Kasparov, Anatoly Karpov and Vladimir Kramnik, Anand is, without doubt, the favourite.

The young Indian brigade, led by Pendyala Harikrishna and Surya Sekhar Ganguly will have ample opportunity to display their prowess in this edition, which features a field of 24 players in both men's and women's sections.

India's only woman to gain a Grandmaster title, Koneru Humpy will spearhead the country's challenge in the women's section, which is likely to be dominated by Chinese players, World champion Chen Zhu and defending champion Yuhua Xu.

The league phase of the tournament starts on October 10 after a formal inaauguration tomorrow.

Chief arbiter Casto P Abundo (Phillipines) said 24 players would be divided into four groups for the round-robin league and the top two players would make it to knock-out quarter- final stage.